Interior Minister and Deputy
Premier Matteo Salvini said Tuesday "I talk to sober people who
don't make comparisons that aren't here nor there" when asked
abut European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's
suggestion Italy might pose a Greece-like threat to the euro.
Salvini also said Juncker should drink two glasses of water
before talking about Italy's debt risks.
Juncker has "sent the spread crazy" by likening Italy to
Greece and "could have spared us the comparison", Salvini,
leader of the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League party, said
Tuesday.
"The European Commission President Juncker, by equating Italy
with Greece, sends the spread crazy. He could have spared us
that," Salvini said at a meeting of Naples' public order and
security committee.
"He should drink two glasses of water before opening his
mouth, and stop spreading non-existent threats.
"Or we'll ask him for damages".
Salvini insisted that the Italian government will ask for
damages from "those who wish Italy ill" like Juncker and "other
European bureaucrats" whose "threats continue to drive up the
spread".
"The words and threats of Juncker and other European
bureaucrats continue to make the spread rise, with the aim of
attacking the government and the Italian economy," said the
deputy premier.
"We are ready to ask damages from those who wish Italy ill,"
said Salvini.
Financial markets remained nervous about Italy's budget
Tuesday as the EU took a tough stance - but the Italian
government said it wasn't going to budge "one millimetre" on a
2.4% deficit-to-GDP ratio for thr next three years.
The Milan bourse closed 0.23% down with the FTSE-Mib index
dropping to 20,562 points, while the spread between Italian and
German 10-year bonds rose to 302 points with a BTP yield of
3.44%, a new post-2014 high.
Juncker said Monday night the EC had to apply the rules on
the Italian budget or else it might spell "the end of the euro",
according to Brussels sources.
European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said
Tuesday that Italy could face EU sanctions if it goes through
with plans to have a budget deficit of 2.4%.
"The Commission introduced a communication on the use of
flexibility and Italy is the country that has most benefited,"
Dombrovskis said when asked to clarify Juncker's comments on
Rome's budget plans.
"Now the problem is that the discussions on the draft budget
are going in a direction that substantially goes beyond this
flexibility and Juncker said that we must apply the rules of the
(Stability and Growth) Pact.
"And that is what the Commission is ready to do".
Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio
said Tuesday that "we won't go back a millimetre" when asked
about the rise in Italy's bond spread since the government
announced it intends to let the deficit rise to 2.4%.
"If necessary we'll explain the budget on the streets," the
5-Star Movement (M5S) leader told RTL 102.5 , adding the
government was "united".
He said that he did not think the European Commission's
criticism of the budget plans was part of a "plot" to bring down
the M5S-League government.
He added, however, that they "must not give blows below the
belt", saying Juncker and other Commissioners commented when
Italy's bond spread had started to drop.
Di Maio said that EU officials were "prejudiced" against a
budget with a 2.4% deficit when other countries had gone even
higher.
"This 2.4% is scandalous while others before us did
everything they wanted: now they're criticising our budget
without even having read it, I have to think there's a
prejudice", he said.
"Threats will not stop us," he added.
Di Maio said Juncker and European commissioners had "made
statements to create tension and markets are sensitive to the
words of EU commissioners".
"But at least they should read the DEF (economic blueprint)
first.
"Yesterday someone was unhappy the spread hadn't risen to 350
so the commissioners made their statements".
He said the market reaction was "much more due to these
gentlemen than to the action of the government".
Di Maio said "we'll give the deficit back next year, because
with cuts and growth we'll lower debt".
He said "we'll have a bit of deficit for once, not to save
banks, but so as not to kill citizens and entrepreneurs."
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